Weekly indieWIRE Clicks: The Best News, Reviews & Features

Weekly indieWIRE Clicks: The Best News, Reviews & Features

This week on indieWIRE, Mike Cahill talked our Critical Consensus pick of the week “Another Earth,” a slew of trailers dropped, Captain Planet came back into our lives and much more.

News

The Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” opened in 10 theaters last weekend and its performance was definitely the second most discussed topic among box office pundits last Sunday (clearly, “Harry Potter” smashing every conceivable record was #1). indieWIRE‘s own box office column suggested the performance was “respectable” but “unspectacular,” despite press releases that lauded the film’s numbers. Go here for the full report.

Robbie Pickering’s “Natural Selection,” which dominated the awards at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, has been picked up by The Cinema Guild. The dark comedy chronicles the story of a woman who tries to find her husband’s eldest sperm donor baby after she discovers that he has been creating children via donation for 25 years. The film will be released theatrically this fall.

This week’s indie release-date updates brings news that IFC Films will handle John Landis’ first feature in 12 years, the black comedy “Burke & Hare.” It’s set for September 9. For full release go here.

The 32nd Annual Emmy Award nominations for news and documentary were announced this week, with numerous docs that were favorites on the festival circuit over the last year or two making appearances throughout the nominations. Go here to find out what was nominated. For Anthony Kaufman’s analysis on his blog Reel Politik go here.

Samuel L. Jackson’s popular anime series “Afro Samurai” will soon become a live action feature, thanks to Indomina Group. There is no word yet on just how badass the production will be, but you can read the full press release here.

According to The Playlist Kevin Costner is in talks to play Ace Woody, a supporting player in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.” Go here for the full story.

Former Cinematical editor in chief Erik Davis has been named as managing editor of Movies.com and as contributing editor of sister site Fandango. Both sites are owned by Comcast. Go here for full story.

Andrew Haigh’s “Weekend” won the Grand Jury Award for “Outstanding International Dramatic Feature,” while Eric Brach’s “Habana Muda” took the Grand Jury Award for “Outstanding Documentary Feature Film” over the weekend at Outfest, capping the 29th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The jury nod in the U.S. dramatic feature category went to Stephen Cone’s “The Wise Kids,” which also received Outfest’s screenwriting award. Director Maryam Keshavarz’s “Circumstance” won the festival’s Audience Award for “Outstanding First U.S. Dramatic Feature” and Tom Tykwer’s “3” won Outstanding Dramatic Feature Film in the category. For full list of winners go here.

Elle Fanning looking like Helena Bonham Carter, a score by Dan Deacon and a potential Halloween release sounds like a fantastic recipe for Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming “Twixt.” Take a peak at the first official still.

While “Martha Marcy May Marlene” has been generating buzz for Elizabeth Olsen since its Sundance premiere, her other starring vehicle, “Silent House,” has been a little more under the radar. Luckily, the horror film, which is made up of a single feature-length shot, has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Open Road Films and Liddell Entertainment. For the full press release, click here.

With a TV series, toys, comics and video games already developed out of media mogul Ted Turner‘s brainchild, Captain Planet, the do-gooder environmentalist superhero is finally getting the big screen treatment.

Acclaimed Irish director Jim Sheridan (“In America,” “My Left Foot”) takes his first swing at the mainstream thriller genre with “Dream House,” and by the looks of the just-released trailer things look awfully tired. Watch it to see why.

Oscilloscope Laboratories just released the trailer for the well-received Sundance 9/11 documentary “Rebirth,” which they picked up out of the festival. The movie, about the emotional healing of five survivors of victims who died in the attack, also features footage from 14 time lapse cameras at Ground Zero that charts the physical recovery after 9/11. Go here to watch the trailer.

The Playlist posted the trailer for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Marc Webb’s revamp of the superhero blockbuster. Go here to check it out and read their verdict.

Already counting down the days until fall? Check out Film Forum’s fall/winter lineup of upcoming releases.

The Sundance Institute will hold a one-day symposium on short comedy filmmaking on August 6 in Los Angeles, with a handful of programs, including talks moderated by director Michael Arteta and the team behind Funny or Die. Click here for more.

If your film boasts the title “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy,” you better hint at some sexy times in the trailer. No such luck in the new trailer for Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory’s comedy, which premiered earlier this year to little fanfare at the Tribeca Film Festival. Go here to watch it.

We love you, Ann Curry, but girl, what were you thinking? You call him a “gorgeous hunk of man candy”—and then say no to an opportunity like this? This morning on NBC’s Today show, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dropped by to chat about their latest romantic comedy, “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” which opens next Friday. In the course of their banter, Gosling offered to lift Curry above his head to reenact the infamous move from “Dirty Dancing” (don’t ask). And Curry inexplicably balked, leaving the ever-game Al Roker to take the hunk up on the offer. Go here for video.

Reviews

While “Captain America” is set to duke it out with “Harry Potter” this weekend in the multiplexes, the high-profile Sundance sensation “Another Earth” (starring buzzed about newcomer Brit Marling), the SXSW winner “The Myth of the American Sleepover,” and the Holocaust drama “Sarah’s Key” will be vying to make a dent at the indie box-office. Want to know what’s worth seeing? Check out all the reviews published this week on indieWIRE and our Blog Network here.

In an anticipated annual list in the indie world, Filmmaker Magazine unveiled its “25 New Faces of Independent Film” today. The 14th edition of the list include a “new wave of smart science fiction films, and three different sets of curators transitioning to filmmaking,” according to the publication. Go here for the list.

indieWIRE and the Film Society of Lincoln Center packed the new amphitheater at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center on Satuday for a panel on “15 Years of Distribution,” tied to iW’s 15th anniversary last weekend.

Go to Thompson on Hollywood for a list of the Ten Things You Should Know About Miranda July, courtesy of The NYT Mag’s Katrina Onstad.

Last month, we spotlighted the stop-motion zombie comedy “ParaNorman,” from the folks behind “Coraline,” for out ‘Bigger Project of the Day’ Friday column. The film’s creative team is in San Diego this weekend hyping up the flick at Comic-Con. Go here to learn about the production.

This week hitting the small screen, Catherine Deneuve pairs up with Gerard Depardieu, Eva Green “Cracks,” a new French classic gets remastered in high-def and much more.

Interviews

David Robert Mitchell made a tender and sweet coming-of-age story that has given the young writer/director some nice attention. His first feature, “The Myth of the American Sleepover”, had its world debut at the SXSW Film Festival last year where it received a special jury prize for Best Ensemble Cast. We chatted with the rookie about his charming comedy.

This has been a busy week for Seth Worley. The Nashville-based filmmaker’s witty short film “Plot Device” has quickly gone viral, generating media buzz and putting him on Hollywood’s radar practically overnight. Go here for our interview with the budding director.

We were thrilled to have Jonathan Caouette at 92Y Tribeca for a screening of his 2004 film “Tarnation” in honor of indieWIRE’s 15th anniversary. After the screening, he spoke about his latest films and what we can expect from him in the future. Hint: It won’t be a documentary. Click here for more.

Our Critic’s Consensus pick for this weekend, “Another Earth” is the much-discussed story of, well, another earth, and though actor/co-writer Brit Marling is getting plenty of deserved attention, the film’s director, Mike Cahill, has more than earned some recognition. Check out our Futures interview with him here.

The original Captain Kirk spoke with indieWIRE’s Eric Kohn about “Star Trek,” online streaming, and his new film here.